I recently attended a workshop on Service Design. The goal of this concept is to embrace creativity in all phases of concept development. From the original brainstorming to deliverables, the journey is filled with inter-communication; ideation is the norm.

This is in stark contrast to the waterfall model where one goes from development to production in tiddy bit stages. In truth this doesn't represent reality at all. Iteration is the norm is my experieces with small to mid-sized projects. The added value of a large conceptual frame around a pure discussion refinement was refreshing and valuable.

The environment was joyfull and fun to enhance creativity. The materials used promoted that; large desks, billboards, color pencils, post-its, large sheets of paper, all added value onto the more classic web surfing research, video editing, writting and logo design.

My group was interesting, a mix of old and new, practical and conceptual, some were fun, others were boring, some made waves, others surfed them, but in the end, cooperation was king and the basis for some really cool and radical ways of thinking.

I met some really cool and fascinating people, all of them honing their skills and applying creativity in its pure form. Turning on the genie lamp, adding value and exploring new venues for self-expression.

It was fun. And that, is creative.

What true power has a person with an iPad to change the world? I don't mean to radically change the entire world for the better, just a fraction of his personal one. The kinds of informational access one has over the mobile space is staggering. We can simply drop an app and start twitting away, or blogging away, or even check spot potential friends or associates away, everything we need is at our fingertips, if we decide to use it.

What mosty is interesting to me is the way, "the mobile", can extend to "real life" and mold it in such a way to give it context and superpositions of new concepts and ideas. From the snippets of information at the top of the hat, to more elaborate social constructs, it's like we can now meta-tag the world in an ever increasing way and give it detail and meaning.

I believe that poetry and literary essays have been the last century equivalents of what is happening today with technology gadgets. The human mind and spirit tends to reason and exploratory walkabouts of understanding are nature's way to achieve the, always ellusive, but allways present longing for self expression and intercommunication within the global consciusness.

We are all phylosophers, even if the tittle doesn't strictly hold up. When you tag and connect, fill up a form with tidbits of personallity descriptions, tile up your profile with the apps you enjoy, and present yourself in a certain way, using the waterfall in your facebook account, to enlist your life events, then you are a real phylosopher, sharing to the global stage your current draft of an essay that will extend the understanding of your and your world.

On your world, you will be able to exchange and deliver these notes, online and offline, suspending disbelief enough to actually do something, and change it.

If I want to build creative projects with cool people, I must get to know them. Creativity should be provided by real people working in within a real web of communication. Social networks are boring, but people can be exciting.

So, does social virtuality sucks? Well, yeah.

However, there is something to be said about the power of networking, the power of meeting real people by the means of interconnectedness that can only exist in this wide web of ours. And in that lies our great power.

I've been thinking to go and make a push for networking based around my desire to create a game development studio. I've made a vision to transform the T-Minus 5 Brand into a full game development studio. A dream? Yes. But one that promises great things.

I will be making active links to people in networks such as LinkdIn, Facebook, and even twitter. I will be pruning my RSS feeds to be based more around the websites and people that want to create games here in Portugal. I'm also thinking to actively search the web and try to find these people. Go to gatherings on gaming, production and all kinds of events on Startups and Creativity. I will do so.

Only by meeting real people on a desired destination can you change your past into your future. By just letting the past be the present, even if its just sharing a link to your known pool of friends, you will forever by where you are.

And we all want to expand.

Cheers!

I'm totally blown away with Uncharted 2. This game has pulled me into the dark halls of gaming where you just waste all your life and spend 2.5 hours on it everyday for 3.5 years while eating 2.5 pounds of chocolate mouse per night. Well, not quite, but close.

I'm actually playing this baby for a week now, I've finally took the plunge and bought a PS3, guess what? Avatar Ultimate Edition looks absolutely stunning on it! Yes, I bought it just for the Blue Ray but now I'm actually playing... Shame on me.

The engine is sheer stunning grace, its digital bits blended with insight and precision. The set pieces are marvelous bits of cinematic history blended into the action crux of the main character. I've never experienced something as captivating as this game before on a smaller screen.

This is the true blending or art and cinematography.

I'm amazed at the detailed script, and the blending of action-adventure queues with cinema bleeding-edge animation. This thing just Never Stops. It keeps going and going, making you and your PS3 SixAxis wrapped into a single juxtaposed existence!

When you find relics you feel joy, when you kick the hell out of a soldier you find relief, when a monster of a beast throws you off a cliff you cringe, when your female companion gets upside of you over a bed, you get, well, pretty graphics. Its all in place. The emotions are there and are sustainable enough that you get a seamless experience from role-playing your avatar and going back and forth between story the (un) cut-scenes, such is the transition linear and smooth from one to the other.

Technologically is superior to anything out there, and this is out for some time now. They can put a train with more carriages that I could count moving between gorgeous mountains in full LOF view. WOW! Talk about engine power. Those SPU are in high gear!

There is such amazing artistry at work here. Its awe inspiring to mesmerize at the graphics and have gut intrusive emotions playing it from end to end. I'm humbled and grateful for getting to play this game. Its not everyday that someone yanks you out of your everyday life and pulls you in into an adventure. Nathan Drake is the New Indiana Jones. This is really play time for me once again.

I'm in child-like wonder mode.

Now I just need to make more chocolate mouse.

Finally! Eye Web is now officially in the App Store for approval by Apple. This means generally 2-3 weeks before its publicly available.

I am very happy to be making this post, it represents another beacon in my little shop called T-Minus 5. For this time, I wanted to make a splash, if not a total meteorite crashing wave, at least a nice whooshing effect that creates a smile in you once you see it.

I guess you know this already.

So, yeah, very nice icon, did you know it costed me $100 to do it? Oh yeah, don't be fooled by the economics of today's freedom society. Artists (the good ones, that is) are an expensive class I must say, but the results are totally worth it. Isn't it nice to watch? It represents the world in all its multitude of people. The globe. The mass of beneath our feet. Revolving around it we have... a fire arrow, a blaze of yellow awareness, with this big eye looking into your soul. I love it.

Now, what is Eye Web after all? What was all the fuss about? What is it, and why did I do it?

By the icon, you can see its a Browser, by the name you can see its related to seeing. So, elaborating and in simple words:

Eye Web is a Mobile Browser

for Speed Reading the Internet!!

Speed Reading the Internet? Am I crazy? Well, I guess so.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but a video is worth so much more.

Please, take a look at it.

If you like it, you can hype it up. ;) Thanks!

Finally! Google is putting their Bayesian algorithms to the test with this pretty damn amazing feature.

Go to the first page of pomodorotechnique.com and the exit the browser. Don't read it further. Just notice it and then step back.